spacemacs/layers/+window-management/perspectives

Perspectives contribution layer for Spacemacs

• Description
• Install
  • Layer
• Features
  • Micro-states
    • Perspective Management Micro State
    • Custom Perspectives Micro State
  • Per project custom perpsective
  • Save/Load perspectives into a file
  • Custom Perspective Macro
  • Predefined custom perspectives
    • Org-agenda custom perspective
    • RCIRC/ERC custom perspective
• Configuration
  • Removing additional help
  • Showing Spacemacs Home Buffer at Startup

Description

This contribution layer adds Perspectives to Spacemacs. Perspectives are window configurations that have buffer isolation between each other (under the keybinding SPC l b). At the beginning there is a @Home perspective which will contain all buffers by default. Basically, staying in this perspective will feel as if you didn't have the perspectives layer enabled. After creating the first perspective via the method you choose (SPC l s or SPC l o custom-poersp or SPC l P for projectile perspectives). If you kill the @Home perspective SPC l k, you will also kill every buffer.

Install

Layer

To use this contribution add it to your ~/.spacemacs

  (setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers '(perspectives))

Features

Micro-states

Perspective Management Micro State

Prefix command for perspective management commands is SPC l (for Layout).

Key Binding	Description
SPC l ?	Toggle Documentation of micro-state
SPC l l	List perspectives
SPC l b	List buffers in current perspective
SPC l f	List buffers in current perspective
SPC l K	Remove buffer from perspective
SPC l i	import all buffers from other perspective
SPC l t	display buffer without adding it to perspective
SPC l a	add buffer to current perspective
SPC l x	kill current perspective with its buffers
SPC l X	kill other perspective with its buffers
SPC l c	close current perspective and keep buffers
SPC l c	close current perspective and keep buffers
SPC l C	close other perspective and keep buffers
SPC l i	Import buffers from other perspective
SPC l o	open a custom perspective
SPC l n	switch to next perspective
SPC l N or SPC W p	switch to previous perspective
SPC l <tab>	switch to latest perspective
SPC l [1..n..9]	switch to nth perspective
SPC l r	rename perspective
SPC l w	Save perspectives to file
SPC l L	Load perspectives from file
SPC l s	switch perspective

Custom Perspectives Micro State

The default bindings are the following:

Key Binding	Description
SPC l o e	Emacs custom perspective
SPC l o E	ERC custom perspective (needs the erc layer enabled)
SPC l o i	RCIRC custom perspective (needs the rcirc layer enabled)
SPC l o o	Org custom perspective

You can of course add more custom perspectives by using the spacemacs|define-custom-layout macro explained further below.

Per project custom perpsective

Projectile will work normally in any perspectives by adding buffers to the current perspective, but if you want to create a perspective specific to some project you can use the SPC l P.

Save/Load perspectives into a file

With SPC l w and SPC l L you can save and load perspectives to a file this is done without configuration, support is great for emacs 24.4, but depends on workgroups.el for Emacs <= 24.3.

Custom Perspective Macro

If you want to add a new custom-persp (for example if you want to have IRC on its own perspective or maybe calendar or gnus) you have to use the macro spacemacs|define-custom-persp as follows:

  (spacemacs|define-custom-persp "<name-to-be-shown-in-the-modeline>"
    :binding "<bind-key>"
    :body
    (...)
    (stuff to be done in the persp activating)
    (a major mode like twittering-mode or whatever)
    (...))

You can check out the layer's packages.el to see some examples of the custom-perspectives. if you define something like this you may be able to define a perspective with a layout.

  (spacemacs|define-custom-persp "c++"
    :binding "+"
    :body
    (find-file "~/path/to/first/file.cpp")
    (split-window-right)
    (find-file "~/path/to/second/file.cpp")
    (... do more stuff but be careful not to destroy the universe ...))

Then you can access this persp with SPC l o +, where + is the binding.

Predefined custom perspectives

Org-agenda custom perspective

Here we define a custom perspective that adds items to your org-agenda. If you do not know what that is check the docs.

The cool part is that you can have many org files with todos in the agenda and with one simple command you can gather all the todos from all the agenda files you have and show them in a single buffer. (in evil the command starts with ;a)

RCIRC/ERC custom perspective

Now you can also open IRC in a new perspective to keep all the chat buffers in one perspective isolated from your work buffers.

You will have to use the perspective layer as well as the rcirc/erc layer:

  (setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers '(rcirc
                                                    erc
                                                    ;; you only need one of those layers
                                                    perspectives))

Configuration

Removing additional help

Once you know the key bindings to navigate between the workspaces you may want to disable the exhaustive help in the workspace micro-state. Set the variable perspective-display-help to nil

  (setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers
    '((perspectives :variables perspective-display-help nil)))

Showing Spacemacs Home Buffer at Startup

If you changed stuff in your @Home perspectives, the state won't be reloaded each time you restart Emacs, each time the Home buffer will be shown. If you don't want to see the home buffer at startup change the value of spacemacs-persp-show-home-at-startup.